Terence M. Whalen dies; real estate exec from Garden City was 64
Terence M. Whalen, a real estate executive whose colleagues say helped spur the revival of Downtown Brooklyn with the creation of the MetroTech Center, has died after a long battle with skin cancer.
Whalen died Nov. 2. He was 64.
Whalen began his engineering career in 1970 in a field that resulted in several high-profile real estate and development positions, including becoming a chief engineer at the MGM Building in Manhattan, and a district manager for a real estate firm, the Sylvan Lawrence Company, in Manhattan.
For 12 years at Cushman & Wakefield, a national real estate firm, he oversaw property management operations in Manhattan and in offices in Denver, Phoenix and Texas.
Whalen, of Garden City, joined Brooklyn-based Forest City Ratner Cos. in 1989 as president of its management and facilities company, First New York Partners.
At the time, Ratner was focusing on commercial development in Downtown Brooklyn, starting with the MetroTech Center project, a campus and office park, and Whalen played an integral role in its development, co-workers said.
Colleagues say MetroTech was a first step toward revitalizing Downtown Brooklyn. His portfolio also included overseeing 10 million square feet of commercial real estate for structures such as The New York Times Building and the Barclays Center.
He sat on the board of directors of the Real Estate Board of New York and was named that organization's executive of the year in 2002. Nine years later, he was given the board's commercial management executive of the year award.
"He was a great guy. He was a moral guy who had a lesson for every story. I'm going to miss his laugh," said his daughter, Meghan Whalen, 40, of Long Beach, who worked with him at MetroTech.
Whalen met his wife, Ann Marie, 65, while they were students at Brentwood High School and she was manager of the boys track team. They met after the coach asked that Whalen drive her home one night after practice.
An avid reader and sports fan, he loved the Yankees and Giants.
He is survived by his wife of 46 years, his daughter, and a son, Terence Whalen Jr., 46, of Seaford.
'It's definitely a destination' NewsdayTV's Doug Geed takes us "Out East," and shows us the Long Island Aquarium, a comfort food restaurant in Baiting Hollow, a Riverhead greenhouse and Albert Einstein's connections to the East End.
'It's definitely a destination' NewsdayTV's Doug Geed takes us "Out East," and shows us the Long Island Aquarium, a comfort food restaurant in Baiting Hollow, a Riverhead greenhouse and Albert Einstein's connections to the East End.
